‘Undervalued’ mandarins run for cover from their political masters

Whitehall’s leading civil servants have a fraught relationship with ministersCHRIS YOUNG/PA

They live in fear of getting black marks against their name, have been thrown out of rooms and told not to come back, and even run the other way down the corridor to avoid their boss.

Welcome to the world not of cutthroat corporate enterprise but of Whitehall’s leading civil servants. A disturbing picture of fraught relations between mandarins and their political masters is painted in an officially sanctioned report released yesterday.

It says that about half of cabinet ministers do not have a properly functioning relationship with their permanent secretaries. That can lead to suspicion, low morale and poor decision-making.

The study is based on interviews with 15 past and present permanent secretaries, 12 ministers and dozens of senior civil servants. It reveals widespread…